Ground work vehicle, ground work vehicle management system, and ground work information display method

ABSTRACT

A work device that performs work using a work unit while traveling, or a management system in which the work device is incorporated includes: a travel information generation unit that, over time, generates travel information indicating a travel state; a work information generation unit that, over time, generates work information indicating a work state for the work unit; a travel evaluation unit that, based on the travel information and the work information, divides the traveling of the work device into non-work traveling and actual work traveling; and a data visualization unit that generates visual data according to which the result of the division performed by the travel evaluation unit is made visible.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is the United States national phase of InternationalApplication No. PCT/JP2013/074252 filed Sep. 9, 2013, and claimspriority to Japanese Patent Application Nos. 2012-213254 and 2013-064834filed Sep. 26, 2012 and Mar. 26, 2013, respectively, the disclosures ofwhich are hereby incorporated in their entirety by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a ground work vehicle configured toperform work using a work apparatus while traveling, and an informationmanagement technique for a ground work vehicle. This informationmanagement technique includes linking between a display of a mobilecommunication terminal brought inside of a ground work vehicle and avehicle-mounted display.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There are known to be ground work vehicle management systems in whichdrive state data of a ground work vehicle is transmitted to amaintenance management center via a network and the drive state data areaccumulated at the maintenance management center. For example, with anetwork-type agricultural machine system disclosed in Patent Document 1,an agricultural machine includes a sensor that detects an operationstate of an agricultural machine, a transmission means for transmittingdata regarding the detected operation state in addition to machineidentification information unique to the agricultural machine, aposition information acquisition means for acquiring positioninformation of the agricultural machine, and an abnormal state reportingbutton for reporting when an abnormality occurs in the agriculturalmachine. A maintenance management center is provided with a receptionmeans for receiving operation state data transmitted from theagricultural machine, and a data accumulation means for classifying thereceived operation state data for each agricultural machine based on themachine identification information and accumulating it in a database.Furthermore, the agricultural machine includes an abnormal statereporting processing means for, in the case where the abnormal statereporting button is pressed, transmitting operation state dataaccumulated up to a predetermined time before the button was pressed,along with the position information and the device identificationinformation to the maintenance management center as abnormal statereporting data. At that time, work clutch engagement/disengagementoperation data, calculation data regarding travel distance and work timeor work distance since a work clutch engagement/disengagement operationdata, calculation data regarding a harvest amount based on tank signaldata, data regarding the rotation speed, threshing data and the like aretreated as driving state data. With this network-type agriculturalmachine system, the operation state data from when an abnormality occursand until a certain time is transmitted as abnormal state reporting dataalong with the machine identification information of the agriculturalmachine in which the abnormal state occurred, as well as the positioninformation of the agricultural vehicle. Therefore, based on thesepieces of information, a serviceman can know the exact status of theagricultural machine. However, with this network-type agriculturalmachine system, the maintenance management center only has a function oftransmitting the accumulated drive state data in response to theoccurrence of an abnormality in the agricultural machines, and does nothave a data processing function according to which such accumulateddrive state data are used for work evaluation.

Also, from Patent Document 2, there is known to be an agricultural workvehicle management apparatus that divides agricultural land into plotsand records the work performed by the agricultural work vehicle in unitsof plots. With this management device, a work management terminal devicethat can communicate with a controller for a work vehicle includes a DVD(Digital Versatile Disc) reading apparatus that stores map data, a GPS(Global Positioning System) receiver, and a gyro sensor, and obtains theoutline of the agricultural land from the map data. The obtained mapdata of the work location is divided into plots, and local information(existence of hindrances such as utility poles) is stored. For example,if the agricultural work vehicle is a combine, the total dischargeamount of unhulled rice obtained by harvesting work is input as theharvest amount of the entire field. Also, if the agricultural workvehicle is a tractor, a tilling depth sensor detection value obtainedduring tilling work is automatically recorded as the tilling depth valuein each field plot. In this management apparatus as well, localinformation of the agricultural land and the harvest amount of anagricultural product are dealt with, but information indicating theoperation status of the work apparatus of the agricultural work vehicleis not dealt with.

Also, from Patent Document 3, there is known to be a combine in which adetection apparatus that detects grain quality is mounted and a combinedrive state that is to be employed is reported based on the result ofdetection performed by the detection apparatus. Specifically, thecombine is configured to display an optimal threshing value based on theresult of detecting the moisture content of the grains, and based onthat, an operator can adjust the driving speed of a threshing cylinderand the like. In this combine as well, information indicating thedriving states of various work apparatuses during harvesting work is notdealt with.

The following conventional technique is known as a technique for linkingthe display of a mobile communication terminal, which has been broughtinside of a ground work vehicle having a vehicle-mounted display thatdisplays information, and the vehicle-mounted display.

From Patent Document 4, there is known to be an in-vehicle communicationsystem according to which a mobile information terminal brought insideof a vehicle and a vehicle-mounted apparatus with a display function areconnected and the mobile information terminal and the vehicle-mountedapparatus are used more efficiently. The in-vehicle communication systemincludes an in-cabin display apparatus provided in the vehicle, and anin-cabin communication relay apparatus that relays communication betweenthe in-cabin display apparatus provided in the vehicle and a mobileinformation terminal brought inside the cabin. The in-cabin displayapparatus transfers a received input signal to the mobile informationterminal, and the mobile information terminal generates a first displaysignal to be displayed by the in-cabin display apparatus, and a seconddisplay signal to be displayed by the display unit of the mobileinformation terminal. A first display object based on the first displaysignal and a second display object based on the second display signalmay be the same, or they may differ in at least one of size, shape,color, brightness, and change over time. For example, it is possible tocause the display unit of the in-cabin display apparatus and the displayunit of the mobile information terminal to display the same mapinformation and the like, and to cause them to display mutuallydifferent information.

That is to say that in this in-vehicle communication system, based onthe input signal sent from the in-cabin display apparatus, the mobileinformation terminal generates the first display object to be displayedon the in-cabin display apparatus and a second display object to bedisplayed on the mobile information terminal from information includedin the mobile information terminal. However, no configuration isdisclosed in which a vehicle-side processing apparatus generates adisplay object to be displayed on the in-cabin display apparatus or onthe mobile information terminal based on information included on thevehicle side.

From Patent Document 5, there is known to be a vehicle apparatusincluding a vehicle touch panel, in which a screen of a touch-panelmobile phone is displayed on the vehicle touch panel due to the vehicleapparatus and the touch-panel mobile phone being connected. With thisvehicle apparatus, if a standby screen is displayed on the touch panelunit of the mobile phone, the image data of the standby screen istransmitted from the mobile phone to the vehicle apparatus, and asimilar standby screen is displayed on the vehicle touch panel.Furthermore, if a call is received on the mobile phone, an incoming callscreen displayed on a touch panel unit 16 of a mobile phone 1 is alsotransmitted from the mobile phone to the vehicle apparatus, and asimilar incoming call screen is displayed on the vehicle touch panel. Inother words, a display image that is equivalent to the display image ofthe mobile phone is displayed on the vehicle touch panel. However, noconfiguration is disclosed in which the display image of the vehicletouch panel or an image relating thereto is displayed on the mobilephone.

Also, Patent Document 6 discloses a mobile terminal capable ofcommunicating with an automobile information device that manages vehicleinformation, and with an external content-providing server. When a userholding the mobile terminal gets into the automobile, the mobileterminal searches for a nearby automobile information device, and afteran automobile information device is found, communication is performedbetween the mobile terminal and the automobile information device thatwas found. Furthermore, communication is performed also between themobile terminal and a content-providing server using a mobilecommunication unit, and acquired content is displayed on the display ofthe mobile terminal. Also, it is disclosed that instead of the contentbeing displayed on a display, the content data are transmitted to theautomobile information device so that the content is displayed on thedisplay of a navigation apparatus. However, there is no disclosureregarding a technique for performing display such that the informationobtained from the automobile information device is sorted between thedisplay of the mobile terminal and the display of the navigationapparatus.

PRIOR ART DOCUMENTS Patent Documents

-   Patent Document 1: JP 2004-139469 A-   Patent Document 2: JP 2004-213239 A-   Patent Document 3: JP H11-032550 A-   Patent Document 4: JP 2011-166290 A (FIG. 1)-   Patent Document 5: JP 2012-213141 A (FIGS. 1, 6)-   Patent Document 6: JP 2010-217944 A (FIG. 1)

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Problem(s) to be Solved by the Invention

In view of the foregoing circumstances, a technique of acquiringinformation by which it is possible to objectively evaluate whether ornot a ground work vehicle is efficiently performing work travel whiletraveling and performing work using a work apparatus is desired.

Furthermore, with the above-described conventional techniques, a driverhaving a mobile communication terminal gets into a common vehicle suchas a passenger car. However, in the case of using a ground work vehiclesuch as an agricultural machine or a construction machine, informationrelating to ground work is used as display information that is to beprovided to the driver. There are many different types of informationrelating to ground work, and it is not sufficient to merely display iton the vehicle-mounted display or the display of the mobilecommunication terminal. For this reason, a technique is desiredaccording to which display information including information relating toground work is effectively displayed to the driver.

Solution(s) to the Problem(s)

A ground work vehicle according to the present invention, which isconfigured to perform work using a work apparatus while traveling,includes: a travel information generation unit configured to, over time,generate travel information indicating a travel state; a workinformation generation unit configured to, over time, generate workinformation indicating a work state of the work apparatus; a travelevaluation unit configured to, based on the travel information and thework information, divide the traveling of the ground work vehicle intonon-work traveling and actual work traveling; and a data visualizationunit configured to generate visual data, according to which the resultof the division performed by the travel evaluation unit is made visible.

According to this configuration, rather than simply acquiring the stateof the work apparatus during work traveling, travel informationindicating the travel state of the ground work vehicle and workinformation indicating the work state of the work apparatus aregenerated over time, and by furthermore evaluating these pieces oftime-based information, the traveling of the ground work vehicle isdivided into non-work traveling and actual work traveling. This makes itpossible to compare non-work traveling, which is ineffective worktraveling, with actual work traveling, which is effective worktraveling, from the start of work to the end of work, and to determinewhether or not the work traveling was efficient. Moreover, since theresult of dividing the non-work traveling and the actual work travelingis made visible, a person can effectively use the visual data when thisdetermination is performed.

In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, if a configurationis used in which the travel information includes travel distance dataand the work information includes driving state data indicating drivingtime and non-driving time of the work apparatus, the travel evaluationunit can easily distinguish between the non-work traveling and theactual work traveling based on the driving state data, and can moreovercalculate a non-work traveling distance and an actual work travelingdistance. Furthermore, upon obtaining the traveling distance, it ispossible to calculate non-work travel time and actual work travel timebased on the travel speed of the ground work vehicle. If the displaydata for the display panel of the ground work vehicle is used as thevisual data for the divided travel distance and travel speed, a workercan know the work efficiency by looking at the display panel as well.This will provide motivation to improve the work efficiency.

In a further preferred embodiment, a fuel consumption informationgeneration unit is included, which is configured to, over time, generatefuel consumption information indicating a fuel consumption amount, and afuel consumption evaluation unit is furthermore included, which isconfigured to calculate a fuel consumption amount for when performingwork traveling and a fuel consumption amount for when performingnon-work traveling by associating the fuel consumption information withthe travel information and the work information. This configuration canbe utilized in the selection of an optimal work travel route forsubsequent work by comparing the fuel consumption amount for whenperforming work traveling and the fuel consumption amount for whenperforming non-work traveling.

Note that by taking into consideration the fuel consumption per unitwork, more precise evaluation relating to fuel consumption can beperformed. Accordingly, an embodiment is also preferable in which thework information includes a work amount and a fuel consumptionevaluation unit configured to calculate the fuel consumption per unitwork amount is included.

With an agricultural work vehicle or a construction work vehicle, a lotof work is performed while traveling and temporarily stopping workrepeatedly. Accordingly, in order to determine whether or not this kindof work vehicle is being used efficiently, it is necessary to clarifythe operating behavior of the devices relating to traveling and work.For this reason, in one preferred embodiment of the present invention,the travel information includes one or both of an operation time and thenumber of instances of operating a travel operation device, the workinformation includes one or both of an operation time and the number ofinstances of operating a work operation device, and a device operationevaluation unit is included which is configured to integrate one or bothof the operation times and the numbers of instances of operation. Forexample, if a travel operation device is a travel clutch, by comparingthe ON time and OFF time of the travel clutch, preferably over time,information that is useful for determining the travel efficiency can beobtained. Similarly, if a work operation device is a work clutch, bycomparing the ON time and OFF time of the work clutch, preferably overtime, information that is useful for determining the work efficiency canbe obtained. When this kind of information in particular is displayed onan operation panel or the like, it motivates the driver to work moreefficiently.

If the ground work vehicle is a harvester for rice, wheat, corn or thelike, the work apparatus is realized as a grain stalk processingapparatus, and in this kind of embodiment, it is proposed that the workinformation includes a grain harvest amount. By associating the travelinformation and the grain harvest amount, it is possible to obtain anindex that is important for determining the work efficiency, such as thegrain harvest amount per unit travel distance. Furthermore, by usingthis index to create visual data, it is possible to perform displaythereof on an operation panel or the like in a display mode that is easyto understand. At this time, if grain quality data are also included inthe work information, not only the grain harvest amount per unit traveldistance, but also the quality thereof can be included, and it istherefore possible to obtain an even more effective index.

In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, a data link unitis included which is configured to associate positioning data indicatinga machine position outputted from a GPS module with the travelinformation and the work information. According to this configuration,by associating evaluation information derived from the travelinformation and the work information with GPS positioning data, which isabsolute position information, it is possible to, for example, obtain anevaluation for each plot of a work site composed of multiple plots.Furthermore, by performing visualization such that the evaluation ofeach plot is expanded on the map, visual information relating toefficient use of the ground work vehicle can be obtained which is easyto understand.

Thus, more preferable travel evaluation of the work vehicle is obtaineddue to being associated with the GPS positioning data, which is absoluteposition information. Accordingly, another ground work vehicle accordingto the present invention that is configured to perform work using a workapparatus while traveling includes: a GPS module configured to outputpositioning data indicating a machine position; a work informationgeneration unit configured to, over time, generate work informationindicating a work state of the work apparatus; a travel evaluation unitconfigured to, based on the positioning data and the work information,divide the travel route of the ground work vehicle into a non-worktravel route and an actual work travel route; and a data visualizationunit configured to generate visual data according to which the result ofthe division performed by the travel evaluation unit is made visible.

With the provision of a GPS module, the vehicle position over time, orin other words, the travel route, can be obtained based on the GPSpositioning data. Accordingly, with one preferred embodiment of theground work vehicle in which a GPS module is mounted, the travelevaluation unit calculates a non-work travel distance based on thenon-work travel route and calculates an actual work travel distancebased on the actual work travel route, and the data visualization unitgenerates a diagram according to which a ratio between the non-worktravel distance and the actual work travel distance is made visible.This type of diagram is superior information according to which it ispossible to objectively evaluate whether or not the ground work vehicleis working and traveling efficiently.

Functional units of the evaluation system in particular in theabove-described ground work vehicle, such as the travel evaluation unit,the data visualization unit and the like do not need to be provided inthe ground work vehicle. The above-described effects of the presentinvention can be obtained also in the case of constructing a networkcomputer system in which a computer terminal equipped in the ground workvehicle is used as a client and the computer of the management center isused as a management server. Note that a computer system in this contextis not limited to a system in the narrow sense, such as a server-clientsystem, and means a system in a broad sense, such as a cloud system. Byemploying this kind of network computer system, the present inventioncan be applied as-is to a management system composed of a ground workvehicle that performs work using a work apparatus while traveling, and amanagement server that manages the ground work vehicle. In this groundwork vehicle management system, the ground work vehicle includes atravel information generation unit configured to, over time, generatetravel information indicating a travel state, and a work informationgeneration unit configured to, over time, generate work informationindicating a work state for the work apparatus, and the managementserver includes a data input unit configured to, via a communicationline, receive ground work vehicle information in which the travelinformation and the work information are included, a travel evaluationunit configured to divide traveling of the ground work vehicle intonon-work traveling and actual work traveling based on the travelinformation and the work information, a data visualization unitconfigured to generate visual data according to which the result of thedivision performed by the travel evaluation unit is made visible, and adata output unit configured to transmit the visual data to a requestor.With this kind of management system, it is possible not only to obtainthe above-described effects with regard to the ground work vehicle ofthe present invention, but by using many ground work vehicles asclients, it is possible to perform evaluation regarding efficient usagefor many ground work vehicles in a specific region or many ground workvehicles of a specific manufacturer.

A ground work vehicle according to the present invention, which has avehicle-mounted display configured to display information, includes: awork information generation unit configured to generateinternally-generated work information, which is information relating toground work; a data input unit configured to be able to exchange datawith a mobile communication terminal carried by a driver; a firstdisplay data generation unit configured to, based on theinternally-generated work information, generate first display data to bedisplayed on the vehicle-mounted display; a second display datageneration unit configured to, based on the internally-generated workinformation, generate second display data to be displayed on a displayof the mobile communication terminal; and a third display datageneration unit configured to generate third display data to bedisplayed on the vehicle-mounted display, based on externally-generatedwork information relating to ground work, which is generated by aremotely-located management center and is acquired by the datainput/output unit using the mobile communication terminal as a relay.

According to this configuration, the internally-generated workinformation, which is information relating to ground work, is dividedinto first display data to be displayed on the vehicle-mounted displayand second display data to be displayed on the display of the mobilecommunication terminal, and the data are displayed on the respectivedisplays. According to this, it is possible to use a configuration inwhich information that is normally needed for driving is displayed on avehicle-mounted display with superior visibility for the driver whonormally drives the ground work vehicle, and information to be focusedon at a short distance is displayed on the display of the mobilecommunication terminal, which the driver can hold in his or her hand andfocus on as needed. In other words, it is possible to achieveinformation display sorting in which differences in the displayproperties of the vehicle-mounted display and the display of the mobilecommunication terminal with respect to the driver are utilized. Also,externally-generated information, such as content of a ground workrequest, which is sent from a remotely-located management center using acommunication function of a mobile communication terminal, can bedisplayed on the vehicle-mounted display as well, and displayinformation including information relating to the ground work can bedisplayed effectively to the driver.

There are cases where the externally-generated information sent from themanagement center includes display content preferably displayed on thedisplay of the mobile communication terminal, which the driver can viewat a close range. Accordingly, it is preferable that a fourth displaydata generation unit is included, which is configured to, based on theexternally-generated work information, generate fourth display data tobe displayed on the display of the mobile communication terminal.

Some drivers of the ground work vehicle are experienced and others areinexperienced, and there are differences in visual acuity among driversas well, with some being near-sighted and others being far-sighted andthe like. For this reason, it is convenient to change the contentdisplayed on the vehicle-mounted display and the content to be displayedon the display of the mobile communication terminal depending on thedriver. In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, a driverrecognition unit is included, which is configured to recognize thedriver based on ID information of a mobile communication terminalconnected via the data input/output unit so as to be able to transferdata, and display content on one or both of the vehicle-mounted displayor the display of the mobile communication terminal is changed based onregistration information of the recognized driver.

The specific content of the internally-generated work information, whichis information relating to the ground work, is operation state data ofthe equipped ground work apparatus or vehicle travel state data, butdepending on the type of the ground work apparatus, there are caseswhere the data indicating the travel state of the vehicle is moreimportant, and there are cases where the data indicating the operationstate of the ground work apparatus is more important. For this reason,it is preferable that the internally-generated work information includesone or both of the operation state data of the equipped ground workapparatus and the vehicle travel state data. Also, there are many caseswhere ground work is repeated in different times on the same ground worksite for agricultural work and the like in particular. Accordingly, pastground work result data and ground work target data that is corroboratedby such past ground work result data are important for the driving ofthe ground work vehicle. For this reason, it is preferable that theexternally-generated work information includes one or both of the pastground work result data for the target ground work site and ground worktarget data determined by an external apparatus.

The equipped ground work apparatus and the driving method thereforchange depending on the type of the ground work, the properties of theground work site, the environment of the ground work site and the like.Accordingly, it is advantageous to extract content to be included in thefirst display data and content to be included in the second display datafrom the internally-generated work information based on the ground workattribute information in which such information is included.

Since the mobile communication terminal has a communication function,when used, it is possible to sense at least the approximate position atwhich the terminal is located. In particular, if it is sensed that theposition of the terminal is away from the work site at a work time, itis conceivable that some special situation has arisen. Upon consideringsuch a case, it is preferable that the content of the display data to besent to the mobile communication terminal is changed based on thelocation of the mobile communication terminal. In particular, in caseswhere the location of the mobile communication terminal can beaccurately determined, such as a case in which the driver has gotten outof the ground work vehicle holding the mobile communication terminal, ora case in which it is sensed that the driver is at a position from whichthe vehicle-mounted display cannot be seen, it is convenient to causeall of the information to be displayed on the display of the mobilecommunication terminal.

Due to the fact that linking of the display of the mobile communicationterminal brought inside of the ground work vehicle and thevehicle-mounted display, as described above, can be realized by using aground work information display program installed in the mobilecommunication terminal, a storage medium storing such a program, and byusing a method of carrying out such linking, the rights of thisinvention are directed to a program, a recording medium, and a method.For example, regarding the ground work information display program, aground work information display program is proposed, which is configuredto cause a computer to realize: an internal display data generationfunction according to which internal display data to be displayed on abuilt-in display is generated based on externally-generated workinformation relating to ground work, which is generated by aremotely-located management center and is received via a datacommunication line; an external display data generation functionaccording to which external display data to be displayed on thevehicle-mounted display is generated based on the externally-generatedwork information; and a function according to which the external displaydata are transmitted to the data input/output unit.

Also, the ground work information display program can be configured suchthat the above-described effects obtained in the various preferredembodiments are obtained. For example, the ground work informationdisplay program can be furthermore configured to cause a computer toexecute a function according to which display data to be displayed onthe display of the computer is generated based on internally-generatedwork information relating to ground work, which is generated by theground work vehicle and is sent from the ground work vehicle. The groundwork information display program can be configured such that displaycontent of one or both of the vehicle-mounted display and the display ofthe mobile communication terminal is changed based on registeredinformation on an owner, which is obtained by inquiry of the ground workvehicle or the management center using internally-stored ID informationof the owner. Similarly, it is possible to obtain a similar effect withthe above-described storage medium storing an agricultural workmanagement program of the present invention and ground work informationdisplay method of the present invention. Note that the storage medium inthis context is a non-transitory concrete medium such as a USB memory orSD card (registered trademark).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a basic configuration diagram schematically showing a basicconfiguration of a ground work vehicle and a ground work vehiclemanagement system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view illustrating a flow of data communicationaccording to the basic configuration as shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of a basic configuration obtained by adding severaloptional functions to the basic configuration as shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for schematically illustrating a flow of datacommunication according to the basic configuration as shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a lateral side view of a combine serving as an example of aground work vehicle.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram schematically showing an internal space ofa driving cabin of a combine.

FIG. 7 is a diagram of a screen displayed on a display, in which workevaluation data of the combine has been made into a table.

FIG. 8 is a diagram of a screen displayed on a display, in whichagricultural work evaluation data has been made into a table in a largeregion about the size of a town or village.

FIG. 9 is a diagram of a screen displayed on a display, in whichagricultural work evaluation data has been made into a table in units ofsmall plots in an agricultural land surrounded by embankments.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing one basic configuration forinformation display performed in cooperation between a ground workvehicle and a mobile communication terminal according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing another basic configuration forinformation display performed in cooperation between a ground workvehicle and a mobile communication terminal according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing yet another basic configurationfor information display performed in cooperation between a ground workvehicle and a mobile communication terminal according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 13 is a functional block diagram showing functional units relatingto the present invention, which are constructed in a combine, asmartphone, and a management center.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a flow of data among a combine, asmartphone and a management center.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing a flow of data between a combine and asmartphone.

EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

Basic mechanisms of a ground work vehicle and a ground work vehiclemanagement system according to a first embodiment of the presentinvention will be described hereinafter. FIG. 1 schematically shows abasic configuration of a ground work vehicle and a ground work vehiclemanagement system. FIG. 2 schematically shows a flow of data(information) communication in the basic configuration as shown in FIG.1.

Herein, a ground work vehicle 1 travels over the entirety of anagricultural land by combining linear travel and pivoting travel, andperforms work by causing a work apparatus 1 a to operate. FIG. 1 showsthat a first control unit C1 and a second control unit C2, mutuallyconnected by a vehicle-mounted LAN (Local Area Network), are mounted onthe ground work vehicle 1 to act as an information processing system.However, assuming that the vehicle-mounted LAN is replaced with a WAN(Wide Area Network) such as the Internet, this system can be regarded asacting as a ground work vehicle management system instead, including aground work vehicle in which the first control unit C1 is mounted and amanagement computer that realizes the second control unit C2, which isconnected by the WAN to the first control unit C1 via a wireless line.

The ground work vehicle 1 includes a travel operation device 10A such asa travel clutch, a work operation device 10B such as a work clutch, atravel state detection sensor 21 that detects a travel state, and a workstate detection sensor 22 that detects a work state. The driving cabinof the ground work vehicle 1 is provided with a display unit 62 thatvisually informs the driver of various types of information.

A travel information generation unit 31, a work information generationunit 41, an information management unit 33 and a data input/output unit60 a are implemented in the first control unit C1. The travelinformation generation unit 31 generates travel information based ondetection data relating to travel that is sent from the travel statedetection sensor 21. For example, the travel information can includetime-based operation data, such as time for each operation state and thenumber of instances of operating the travel clutch, and/or traveldistance data that can be calculated based on the wheel rotation speedand the like. The work information generation unit 41 generates workinformation based on the detection data relating to work that is sentfrom the work state detection sensor 22. For example, the workinformation can include time-based operation data indicating time foreach operation state of the work clutch, the number of instances ofoperating the work clutch and the like. The information management unit33 associates the travel information and work information generated overtime and, as needed, performs conversion of the data so that it issuitable for processing in the process of subsequent processing. Thedata input/output unit 60 a is a data input/output unit on the firstcontrol unit C1 side for performing data conversion between the firstcontrol unit C1 and the second control unit C2. If the first controlunit C1 and the second control unit C2 are connected by a WAN such asthe Internet, the data input/output unit 60 a functions also as a dataconversion unit that converts the data adapted to an IP (InternetProtocol). In this kind of mode, for example, the data input/output unit60 a is considered as acting as a communication module in which acommunication device, which is a hardware device, is integrated with aWeb browser, which is a software device.

A data input/output unit 9 a, an application execution module 9 b, and adatabase module 9 c are implemented in the second control unit C2. Thedata input/output unit 9 a includes a data input unit 90 a that receivesinformation from the first control unit C1, and a data output unit 90 bthat sends information to the first control unit C1. The applicationexecution module 9 b has a function of processing information from thefirst control unit C1 and is normally configured based on a program anda program execution environment. The travel evaluation unit 90 c and adata visualization unit 90 d are realized in the application executionmodule 9 b by execution of a program. The travel evaluation unit 90 chas a function of dividing the traveling of the ground work vehicle intonon-work traveling and actual work traveling, based on travelinformation and work information that are, or can be, associated witheach other. The data visualization unit 90 d has a function ofgenerating visual data according to which the result of the divisionperformed by the travel evaluation unit 90 c is made visible. The dataare made visible by creating a graph or an illustration based on thedata. For example, if the result of the division is the work traveldistance and the non-work travel distance, a circle graph or a bar graphindicating the ratio between the work travel distance and the non-worktravel distance is generated as the visual data. The database module 9 cis a data recording unit constituted by a memory. The database module 9c includes a primary database unit 90 h that records information sentfrom the first control unit C1 substantially as it is, a processingresult database unit 90 i that records the evaluation data and thevisual data outputted respectively from the travel evaluation unit 90 cand the data visualization unit 90 d, and a map database unit 90 j thatstores map data for the work site and the like.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a flow of data communication between thefirst control unit C1 and the second control unit C2 having theabove-described configuration. In FIG. 2, in the first control unit C1,the travel information that includes travel distance data indicatingelapsed time and travel distance, and the work information that includesdriving state data including a time chart of the driving times andnon-driving times of the work apparatus are linked in real time orconverted into a linkable format, and then sent to the second controlunit C2. The second control unit C2 evaluates the travel information andwork information that were sent, and calculates, as the evaluation data,the work travel distance and non-work travel distance, and/or the worktravel time and non-work travel time. The pieces of evaluation data aremade into a bar graph by the data visualization unit 90 d, and sent tothe first control unit C1 to act as visual data to be displayed on thedisplay unit 62 along with other driving information.

FIG. 3 shows a diagram of a basic configuration obtained by addingseveral optional functions to the basic configuration as shown in FIG. 1in order to display even more information that is effective forincreasing the work efficiency on the display unit 62. Unlike FIG. 1,this basic configurational diagram shows that the first control unit C1and the management computer system (server system) C3, which functionsas the second control unit in the FIG. 1 configuration, are mutuallyconnected by a WAN such as the Internet via a wireless line. In otherwords, a server-client system is configured in which the first controlunit C1 functions as a client and the management computer system C3functions as a server. Of course, if a configuration is used in whichthe first control unit C1 and the management computer system C3 areconnected by the vehicle-mounted LAN as shown in FIG. 1, this system canbe considered as acting as a closed computer system within the groundwork vehicle 1 including the first control unit C1 and the secondcontrol unit C2. FIG. 4 shows a flow of data communication in the basicconfiguration as shown in FIG. 3.

A GPS module 23 that outputs positioning data indicating a longitudinalvalue, a latitudinal value and an elevation value has been added to theground work vehicle 1. The positioning data are sent to the travelinformation generation unit 31 and in some cases to the work informationgeneration unit 41, to act as position data indicating the real-timetravel position or work position. Herein, the ground work vehicle 1 isconfigured to act as an agricultural work vehicle that performsharvesting of an agricultural product; and a yield sensor 25 thatmeasures the harvest amount of the harvested crop and a quality sensor26 that measures the quality of the harvested crop are additionallyequipped in the ground work vehicle 1 or the work apparatus 1 a. Datameasured by the yield sensor 25 and the quality sensor 26 are sent, overtime, to the work information generation unit 41, wherein harvested cropinformation is generated and incorporated into the work information.

The first control unit C1 additionally includes a fuel consumptioninformation generation unit 35 that receives engine control datarelating to fuel consumption from the engine control unit 24 andgenerates fuel consumption information based on the engine control data.If the engine mounted on the ground work vehicle 1 is a common railengine, a fuel injection amount and the number of injections are sentfrom the engine control unit 24, and therefore those values can be usedto calculate the fuel consumption amount.

Herein as well, the information management unit 33 generates informationfor transmission by associating the travel information, workinformation, fuel consumption information and the like with one another;and transmits (uploads) the resultant information to the managementcomputer system C3 via the data input/output unit 60 a. In themanagement computer system C3, the data input/output unit 9 a isincluded to act as an input/output server, the application executionmodule 9 b is included to act as an application server includingmultiple application programs, and the database module 9 c is includedto act as a database server. If the input/output server 9A is a Webserver, the data input/output unit 60 a of the first control unit C1functions as a Web browser.

In addition to the travel evaluation unit 90 c and the datavisualization unit 90 d, a fuel consumption evaluation unit 90 e, adevice operation evaluation unit 90 f, and a harvested crop evaluationunit 90 g have been added to the application server (applicationexecution module) 9 b. The fuel consumption evaluation unit 90 eevaluates the relationship between work traveling and fuel consumptionbased on the fuel consumption information, work information and travelinformation. As the relationship between work traveling and fuelconsumption, for example, the fuel consumption evaluation unit 90 e usesthe actual work travel time or actual work travel distance and thenon-work travel time or non-work travel distance that are derived by thetravel evaluation unit 90 c, and the fuel consumption amount, to derivefuel consumption evaluation data relating to fuel consumption duringactual work and fuel consumption during non-work. Another preferred fuelconsumption evaluation data would be the fuel consumption per workamount. The fuel consumption evaluation data are changed to visual data,and displayed on the display unit 62 through the data input/output unit(Web browser) 34. Furthermore, if the travel route of the harvester 1evaluated by the travel evaluation unit 90 c is divided into an actualwork travel route and a non-work travel route, it is possible to createan index for efficient work travel by comparing the fuel consumptionwith the actual work travel route and the non-work travel route and byevaluating the resultant comparison. The distinction between work andnon-work is determined by detecting engagement/disengagement of acutting clutch or the like, for example.

The device operation evaluation unit 90 f statistically evaluates thenumber of instances of operation and the operation time of the traveloperation device 10A and the work operation device 10B based on thetravel information and the work information. The evaluation result is anindex, according to which it is determined whether or not the travel andwork is efficient. Furthermore, such operation device maintenance dataare derived from the number of instances of operation and the operationtime being integrated in addition to past data in the database server 6.Operation device maintenance data are recorded for each ground workvehicle 1 and is used for a maintenance service provided by amaintenance company.

The harvested crop evaluation unit 90 g generates harvested evaluationdata by retrieving harvested crop information, indicating the harvestamount and quality of the harvested crop, from work information sentfrom the ground work vehicle 1, and by statistically evaluating theharvest amount and quality. For example, by associating the harvestevaluation data with the travel route of the ground work vehicle 1calculated by the travel evaluation unit 90 c, it is possible togenerate harvest amount distribution data and quality distribution datafor the agricultural land as well.

Next, a specific embodiment of the ground work vehicle 1 according tothe present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.This embodiment is based on the basic configuration of the ground workvehicle management system described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. Aharvester serving as a ground work vehicle is a crawler-type culm-headcharging type combine 1. FIG. 5 is a lateral side view of a combine 1,in which a crawler travel apparatus 11 that is driven so as to rotate byan engine is included, and a driving cabin 13 is formed in the centralportion. As the work apparatus 1 a, a cutting unit 12 is equipped on thefront portion of the device body, and a threshing apparatus 14 and agrain tank 15 are equipped on the rear portion of the device body. Ayield sensor 25 that detects the discharge amount of grain at adischarge opening of a conveying conveyor that conveys grain from thethreshing apparatus 14 to the grain tank 15, and a taste analyzer 26,which is an example of a quality sensor 26, are equipped, although theyield sensor 25 and the quality sensor (taste analyzer 26) are merelyshown schematically. Measurement data for the moisture value and proteinvalue of the grains is outputted from the taste analyzer 26 as thequality data. The travel state detection sensor 21, which detects theoperation state of the travel operation device 10A such as a travelclutch or a speed change clutch, and the work state detection sensor 22,which detects the operation state of the work operation device 10B suchas a cutting clutch, a threshing clutch, a grain discharge clutch,various hydraulic cylinders, or an unloader pivot motor, are alsoincluded as in case with a conventional combine.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram schematically showing the internal spaceof the driving cabin 13. A driver's seat 16, various maneuvering levers,operation switches, a meter display panel 62 that is an example of adisplay unit and the like are arranged in the driving cabin 13. In thisembodiment, the first control unit C1 is constituted by various ECUs andvarious sensors of the combine 1, and a portable tablet-type computer orsmartphone capable of exchanging data with the ECUs and sensors via thevehicle-mounted LAN. The tablet-type computer or smartphone is usedwhile mounted on a mounting portion 3A that is provided near thedriver's seat 16. The mounting portion 3A functions as a power-supplyingconnection portion and a data exchange connection portion for thetablet-type computer or the smartphone. Note that since the tablet-typecomputer or the smartphone has a relatively large touch panel display,it can be used as the meter display panel 62 or a sub-monitor for themeter display panel 62.

In this embodiment, a data input/output unit 60 a that can be connectedto the Internet via the GPS module 23 or the mobile phone line isincorporated in the tablet-type computer or the smartphone included inthe first control unit C1. Also, applications functioning as the travelinformation generation unit 31, the work information generation unit 41,the information management unit 33 and the fuel consumption informationgeneration unit 35 are installed in the tablet-type computer or thesmartphone. Accordingly, harvest amount data from the yield sensor 25,moisture value data and protein value data from the taste analyzer 26,engine control data from the engine control unit 24, and detection datafrom the travel state detection sensor 21 and work state detectionsensor 22 are sent via the connection portion 3A to the tablet-typecomputer or the smartphone.

Upon being introduced into a predetermined agricultural land that is tobe subjected to harvesting work, the combine 1 repeatedly performscutting processing and threshing processing while traveling over theagricultural land. At this time, position information includingpositioning data (latitude, longitude, elevation) that indicates thecurrent position of the combine 1 is generated by the GPS module 23 forthe first control unit C1, and the positioning-measurement informationcomposed of the actual time and the positioning data is sent over timeto the first control unit C1. At the same time, the harvest amount data,quality data (moisture value and protein value of grains), enginecontrol data and various types of measurement data are also sent overtime to the first control unit C1.

With the travel information generation unit 31 in the first control unitC1, the received positioning data are converted into position dataindicating the harvesting travel position or harvesting work position tobe incorporated in the travel information. At this time, the positioningdata composed of the longitude and latitude are converted into acoordinate system with a predetermined position set in the agriculturalland acting as the origin, and it is thereby possible to convert theharvesting position data into position data composed of an X-coordinatevalue and a Y-coordinate value. The travel information generation unit31 combines the travel distance data, the device operation data of thetravel state detection sensor 21 and the like with the position data soas to generate the travel information. The work information generationdevice 41 combines, with the position data, driving state informationindicating the driving state of the work apparatus 1 a, device operationdata of the work state detection sensor 22, and furthermore the harvestamount data, quality data and the like so as to generate the workinformation. The fuel consumption information generation unit 35combines the fuel consumption data, which was calculated based on theengine control data, with the position data so as to generate the fuelconsumption information. Note that the travel information, workinformation and fuel consumption information are described separatelyfor the sake of making the description easier to understand, but ofcourse, in actuality, all of these pieces of information may beintegrated together as one-piece terminal information. The informationmanagement unit 33 effects association and/or integration of thesepieces of information including the positioning data, as well assubsequent disintegration thereof. That is to say, the informationmanagement unit 33 functions also as a data link unit that associatesthe positioning data with the travel information, work information andthe like. At this time, in order to allocate the various pieces of dataincluded in the travel information, work information and fuelconsumption information to a specific area of the agricultural land,correction(s) is/are made to a time difference between the measurementtime of the harvesting work position and the quality measurement time ofthe grain harvested at that position, for example, with taking intoconsideration of the time for the cutting processing and the threshingprocessing. Instead of above, the travel information, work information,and fuel consumption information may be associated with one another inthe management computer system C3 serving as a server.

In FIG. 3, the second control unit C2 is constituted by a managementcomputer system that is a server for the first control unit C1, andtherefore travel information, work information, and fuel consumptioninformation sent from a terminal via the WAN (or a wide areacommunication line) are stored in the primary database unit 90 h of thedatabase server 9 c functioning as the database module as shown in FIG.1, and data serving as the result of the processing performed by theapplications in the application server 9 b functioning as theapplication execution module as shown in FIG. 1 is stored in theprocessing result database unit 90 i. Accordingly, in response to arequest from a user, visual data obtained by visualizing various typesof information relating to making work travel more efficient is providedto the user. At this time, the data visualization unit 90 d can use themap data stored in the map database 90 j to generate graphicalinformation obtained by diagramming travel behavior and work behavior ona macro or micro scale, using the map as a base. In this embodiment, thedata input/output unit 9 a is constructed as a Web server. The Webserver uses a communication protocol known as HTTP (Hyper Text TransferProtocol) to perform transmission and reception of data to and from aWeb browser installed in the first control unit C1. In order to exchangedata with each other, a document written in HTML (Hyper Text MarkupLanguage), XML (Extensible Markup Language) or the like is used, and thedocument can further include an image and/or a sound or voice, as wellas a program for further performing some kind of processing.

A graphical image can be easily handled with an HTML file or an XMLfile. FIG. 7 shows an example of a work travel evaluation screendisplayed on the display unit 62 by a Web browser including the datainput/output unit 60 a of the first control unit C1. Note that thecontent displayed in the display unit 62 can be displayed on the screenof a tablet-type computer or smartphone mounted on the mounting unit 3Aas well. The top screen of the agricultural work evaluation screen is amap of a region including many agricultural lands bordered byembankments. The agricultural lands are distinguished by color, and thedetails thereof can be changed by selection. With a first selection,color is used to divide the agricultural lands into agricultural landsin which harvesting work is complete and agricultural lands in whichharvesting work is not complete. With a second selection, color is usedto divide the agricultural lands into agricultural lands in which atarget harvest amount has been reached or exceeded, and agriculturallands in which a target harvest amount has not been reached.

Furthermore, the top screen as shown in FIG. 7 furthermore displaysicons indicating the current positions of multiple combines 1 registeredin the agricultural work management center. A sub-window is displayed inwhich by clicking a specific combine, information regarding that combine1 and the combine work carried out by that combine are displayed. Inthis embodiment, a sub-window includes the machine number, machineposition, worker name, work status, hour meter, fuel consumption amount,fuel cost, remaining fuel amount, work time, ratio between area workedand area not worked, engine set rotation speed, maximum watertemperature, average work speed, and work efficiency level which isdetermined based on the preceding values, of the combine 1. This kind ofagricultural work vehicle information related to such combine works issent from the first control unit C1 of the combine 1 to the managementcomputer system C3 so as to be processed, and is stored in real-time inthe database server 6.

FIG. 8 shows an example of an agricultural work evaluation screendisplayed on the display unit 62. The top screen of the agriculturalwork evaluation screen also is a map of the region including manyagricultural lands bordered by embankments. The top screen shows asub-window that, responsive to a specific agricultural land beingclicked, displays agricultural land information and agricultural workitem information relating to that agricultural land, and furthermoredisplays the agricultural work vehicle information as an option. Here,the agricultural land information includes the agricultural land name,area, crop, work progress, fertilizer (type and amount thereof) andagricultural chemicals (type and amount thereof); and the agriculturalcrop information includes a dehulled rice harvest amount, averageprotein, and average moisture. Note that the agricultural work vehicleinformation includes the fuel consumed, work time, engine set rotationspeed, maximum water temperature and average work speed. Theagricultural work vehicle information is sent from the first controlunit C1 mounted on the combine 1 to the management computer system C3relating to the agricultural work, and is stored in the database server6.

FIG. 9 shows a specific agricultural land ZZZ selected out of manyagricultural lands shown on the top screen in FIG. 8, and theagricultural land ZZZ is constituted by many small plots obtained bydividing the agricultural land ZZZ by a predetermined size. That is tosay, the entire region shown on the top screen in FIG. 8 corresponds toa specific agricultural land ZZZ selected in FIG. 9, and the manyagricultural lands on the top screen in FIG. 8 correspond to the smallplots as shown in FIG. 9. Accordingly, by clicking on a specific smallplot A1 on the screen as shown in FIG. 9, the agricultural landinformation and agricultural crop information relating to that smallplot A1 are displayed. Based on this information, precise agriculturalwork management is possible. Furthermore, the present invention can beapplied not only to a crawler-type culm-head charging type combine, butalso to a normal type (whole-culm charging type) combine and to awheel-type combine.

Next, basic structures of a ground work vehicle and a ground workvehicle management system according to a second embodiment of thepresent invention, and in particular, a basic configuration forinformation display performed in cooperation between the ground workvehicle and the mobile communication terminal, will be described withreference to FIGS. 10, 11, and 12.

Examples of the ground work vehicle 1 include agricultural work vehiclessuch as a combine, a rice planter or a tractor, and construction workvehicles such as a bucket loader or a backhoe. The ground work vehicle 1used in this invention includes, as the first control unit C1, a travelcontrol ECU (electronic control unit) 3, a work apparatus ECU 4, adisplay information management modules 5 and a display unit 62. Thedisplay unit 62 is composed of a display control unit 62 a and avehicle-mounted display 62 b. The constituent elements of the controlsystem of the data input/output unit 60 a are connected to each othervia a data transfer line such as a vehicle-mounted LAN. Examples ofmobile communication terminals C2 that cooperate with the ground workvehicle 1 regarding information display include laptop PCs, tablet PCs,mobile phones (especially smartphones) and the like that have a functionof being able to exchange data with the ground work vehicle 1 via Wi-Fior Bluetooth (registered trademark), and a function of being able toexchange data with a remotely-located management center 9 via atelephone line, or via a WAN such as the Internet. In addition tofunctional units that are conventionally included such as a displaycontrol unit 63, a display 64, a data input/output unit 60 b, a linecommunication unit 65, and an owner ID management unit 7, the mobilecommunication terminal that functions as the second control unit C2 inthis embodiment includes a display information management module 8 thatis substantially realized by a program (the mobile communicationterminal will hereinafter be denoted by reference mark “C2”). The datainput/output unit 60 a of the ground work vehicle 1 and the datainput/output unit 60 b the mobile communication terminal C2 arecommunication units that can perform relatively close-distancecommunication, or more preferably, wireless communication, such as Wi-Fior Bluetooth (registered trademark).

The travel control ECU 3 of the ground work vehicle 1 is an ECU thatdeals with various types of control information relating to vehicletravel, and for example, includes a travel information generation unit31 that converts, into travel information, the data such as the travelspeed, engine rotation speed, travel distance and fuel efficiency whichare obtained via the vehicle-mounted LAN. The work apparatus ECU 4 is anECU that controls a mounted ground work apparatus, and includes a workinformation generation unit 41 that converts, into the ground workinformation, the data indicating the operation state and running stateof the ground work apparatus. Since some work information is created bythe management center 9 or the like other than the ground work vehicle1, if it is necessary to make a distinction between the two, the workinformation generated by the work information generation unit 41 will bereferred to as “internally-generated work information”.

The display information management module 5 converts the informationthat is to be notified to the driver into display data, and displaysthat information on the vehicle-mounted display 62 b or on the display64 at the mobile communication terminal C2. Note that in addition to theinternally-generated work information generated by the work informationgeneration unit 41, the work information dealt with by the displayinformation management module 5 also includes externally-generated workinformation that is received from the management center 9 by beingrelayed by the mobile communication terminal C2. For this reason, thedisplay information management module 5 includes a first display datageneration unit 51, a second display data generation unit 52, a thirddisplay data generation unit 53, and a fourth display data generationunit 54. From the internally-generated work information, the firstdisplay data generation unit 51 generates first display data to bedisplayed on the vehicle-mounted display 62 b. From theinternally-generated work information, the second display datageneration unit 52 generates second display data to be displayed on thedisplay 64 of the mobile communication terminal C2. From theexternally-generated work information, the third display data generationunit 53 generates third display data to be displayed on thevehicle-mounted display 62 b. Furthermore, from the externally-generatedwork information, the fourth display data generation unit 54 generatesfourth display data to be displayed on the display 64 of the mobilecommunication terminal C2.

That is to say, the display information management module 5 receives theinternally-generated work information and the externally-generated workinformation, and divides each information based on its content into theinformation that is to be displayed on the vehicle-mounted display 62 band information that is to be displayed on the display 64 of the mobilecommunication terminal C2. The display information management module 5thus generates the first display data, the second display data, thethird display data and the fourth display data, which are to bedisplayed in modes appropriate for the display property each of thevehicle-mounted display 62 b and the display 64. Of course, depending onthe case, the content displayed on the vehicle-mounted display 62 b andthe content displayed on the display 64 of the mobile communicationterminal C2 may be redundant, and may be exactly the same.

With the basic configuration as shown in FIG. 10, the displayinformation management module 8 of the mobile communication terminal C2has only a function of transferring, to the display control unit 63, thesecond and fourth data sent via the data input/output unit 60 a of theground work vehicle 1 and the data input/output unit 60 b of the mobilecommunication terminal C2, and causing the second display data andfourth display data to be displayed on the display 64 of the mobilecommunication terminal C2. For this reason, the processing proficiencyrequired by the mobile communication terminal C2 with regard to thepresent invention may be relatively low.

Next, the basic configuration as shown in FIG. 11 will be described.This basic configuration differs from the basic configuration as shownin FIG. 10 in that the functions of the display information managementmodule 5 of the ground work vehicle 1 and the display informationmanagement module 8 of the mobile communication terminal C2 aredifferent. The remaining parts of the configuration are substantiallythe same, and therefore only the parts thereof that are different fromthe foregoing configuration will be described below.

With the basic configuration as shown in FIG. 11, the function of thedisplay information management module 5 of the ground work vehicle 1 andthe function of the display information management module 8 of themobile communication terminal C2 are the inverse of those in the basicconfiguration as shown in FIG. 10. In other words, the displayinformation management module 8 includes the first display datageneration unit 81, the second display data generation unit 82, thethird display data generation unit 83, and the fourth display datageneration unit 84. From the internally-generated work information sentfrom the display information management module 5 of the ground workvehicle 1, the first display information generation unit 81 generatesthe first display data to be displayed on the vehicle-mounted display 62b. From the internally-generated work information, the second displaydata generation unit 82 generates the second display data to bedisplayed on the display 64 of the mobile communication terminal C2.From the externally-generated work information sent from the managementcenter 9, the third display data generation unit 83 generates the thirddisplay data (external display data) to be displayed on thevehicle-mounted display 62 b. From the externally-generated workinformation, the fourth display data generation unit 84 generates thefourth display data (internal display data) to be displayed on thedisplay 64 of the mobile communication terminal C2 (display of themobile communication terminal).

That is to say, the display information management module 8 of themobile communication terminal C2 receives the externally-generated workinformation and the internally-generated work information and divideseach information based on the content thereof into information that isto be displayed on the display 64 of the mobile communication terminalC2 and information that is to be displayed on the vehicle-mounteddisplay 62 b. The display information management module 8 generates thefirst display data, the second display data, the third display data, andthe fourth display data such that they are displayed in modesappropriate for the display property each of the display 64 and thevehicle-mounted display 62 b. Of course, in this configuration as well,depending on the case, the content displayed by the vehicle-mounteddisplay 62 b and the content displayed by the display 64 of the mobilecommunication terminal C2 may be redundant, and may be exactly the same.

With the basic configuration as shown in FIG. 11, the displayinformation management module 5 of the ground work vehicle 1 has only afunction of causing the second display data and the fourth display data,which have been sorted and transferred by the display informationmanagement module 8 of the mobile communication terminal C2, to bedisplayed on the vehicle-mounted display 62 b. Of course, if the mobilecommunication terminal C2 is not connected to the ground work vehicle 1,the display information management module 5 of the ground work vehicle 1has a function of causing the internally-generated work information tobe displayed on the vehicle-mounted display 62 b. For this reason, theprocessing proficiency required by the display information managementmodule 5 of the ground work vehicle 1 may be relatively low, but thedisplay information management module 8 of the mobile communicationterminal C2 requires a processing proficiency that is higher than thatof the display information management module 5.

Furthermore, FIG. 12 shows a configuration in which the two basicconfigurations as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 have been mixed. That is tosay, in this basic configuration, the display information managementmodule 5 of the ground work vehicle 1 determines the sorting of theinternally-generated work information, and the display informationmanagement module 8 of the mobile communication terminal C2 determinesthe sorting of the externally-generated work information. Accordingly,the display information management module 5 of the ground work vehicle 1includes the first display data generation unit 51 that generates thefirst display data to be displayed on the vehicle-mounted display 62 bbased on the internally-generation work information, and the seconddisplay data generation unit 52 that generates the second display datato be displayed on the display 64 of the mobile communication terminalC2 based on the internally-generated work information. On the otherhand, the display information management module 8 of the mobilecommunication terminal C2 includes the third display data generationunit 83 that generates the third display data (external display data)for causing the vehicle-mounted display 62 b to perform display based onthe externally-generated work information sent from the managementcenter 9, and the fourth display data generation unit 84 that generatesthe fourth display data (internal display data) for causing the display64 of the mobile communication terminal C2 (display of the mobilecommunication terminal) to perform display based on theexternally-generated work information.

Next, one specific embodiment of the combine 1 serving as the groundwork vehicle according to the present invention and the mobilecommunication terminal C2 that cooperates with the combine 1 will bedescribed. Herein, the combine 1 is a combine such as one as shown inFIG. 5, and the mobile communication terminal C2 is a smartphone, whichis a mobile communication terminal having a telephone function, a Wi-Fifunction, and an application execution function (in the followingdescription, the smartphone will be denoted by reference mark “C2”).

The smartphone C2 is equipped on the body of the driver, but it is alsopossible for it to be mounted on a cradle provided at the driver's seat16. Various functions needed for realizing the present invention areinstalled on the smartphone C2 each as an application. The smartphone C2can use typically-included functions thereof to connect via a mobilephone communication line and the Internet to the management computersystem C3 of the management center 9 so as to be able to exchange datatherewith, and can use a wireless communication protocol such as Wi-Fito connect to the ECU (electronic control unit) mounted on the combine 1so as to be able to exchange data therewith.

FIG. 13 shows functional block units that indicate functions relating tothe present invention in particular, which are included in the combine1, the smartphone C2, and the management computer system C3 of themanagement center 9. Note that the basic configuration relating to thepresent invention, which is included in the combine 1 and the smartphoneC2 according to this specific embodiment, uses the basic configurationas shown in FIG. 10. Accordingly, content that is redundant with thedescription given with reference to FIG. 10 will not be described here.

In addition to the travel control ECU 3, the work apparatus ECU 4, thedisplay information management module 5, the data input/output unit 60 aand the display control unit 62 a which are included in theabove-described basic configuration, the combine 1 includes a sensorsignal evaluation unit 30, a driver recognition unit 32 and a driverregistration unit 32 a. The configurations of the travel control ECU 3and the display information management module 5 are the same as those inthe basic configuration as shown in FIG. 10, but in addition to the workinformation generation unit 41, the work apparatus ECU 4 also includes awork mode setting unit 42 and a work apparatus control unit 43. The workmode setting unit 42 sets the work mode of the agricultural work that isto be subsequently performed by the combine 1. The work modes includesetting parameters for many work apparatuses, and therefore the workmode setting unit 42 provides the parameters of the work apparatus forcreating a specific work mode to the work device control unit 43. Thework device control unit 43 adjusts the work apparatus so as to matchthe work mode to be carried out based on the provided parameters of thework apparatus. Various types of information relating to the setting ofthe work mode can be included in the internally-generated workinformation generated by the work information generation unit 41.

As a further added function, the work apparatus ECU 4 has a devicemonitoring function of monitoring the states of various devices equippedin the combine 1, detecting sensor malfunctions, hydraulic pressuremalfunctions, operation errors and the like, for example, and outputtinga necessary instruction. Accordingly, the internally-generated workinformation generated by the work information generation unit 41includes malfunctions detected using an apparatus monitoring function.Furthermore, information such as advice for resolving such malfunctionsand correct operation procedures can also be included in theinternally-generated work information. Various types of informationrelating to the setting of the work mode, information such as advice forresolving a malfunction and correct operation procedures and the likesuch as those described above are treated as operation state data of theground work apparatus to be displayed to the driver.

Furthermore, the work apparatus ECU 4 can also receive the vehicletravel state data, which is the travel information generated by thetravel information generation unit 31 of the travel control ECU 3, andprovide the vehicle travel state data to the display informationmanagement module 5 as the internally-generated work information.

The sensor signal evaluation unit 30 is connected to various sensors,including the harvest amount sensor 25 and the taste analyzer 26, andtransmits various types of measurement data to the functional units thatneed them. The driver recognition unit 32 recognizes the driver onboardof the combine 1 based on ID information in the smartphone C2 that issent from the smartphone C2. Information relating to a recognizeddriver, for example, the experience level of operating the combine 1,can be read out from the driver registration unit 32 a. Based on theinformation regarding the driver, the display information managementmodule 5 can determine the content to be displayed on one or both of thevehicle-mounted display 62 b and the display 64 of the smartphone C2,based on the internally-generated work information and theexternally-generated work information.

The smartphone C2 includes a GPS module 70, a data input/output unit 65,a data input/output unit 60 b, a display control unit 63, an operationinput evaluation unit 63 a and the like. Since the GPS module 70 has afunction of measuring absolute position in latitude and longitude usingthe principle of a global positioning system, the position of smartphoneC2 on the map, or in other words, the position of the combine 1 on themap substantially can be obtained using positioning data. The GPS module70 is built into a car navigation system as well, and therefore aconfiguration is possible in which, in the case where a car navigationsystem is mounted on the combine 1 and connected to an ECU, the combineposition is acquired from the combine 1. The operation input evaluationunit 56 evaluates an operation input using a touch panel 64 a andoutputs an operation command.

The management computer system C3 of the management system 9 includes aninput/output server 9A serving as a data input/output unit, anapplication server 9B serving as the application execution module, and adatabase server 9C serving as the database module. The input/outputserver 9A includes a data input processing function of transferring datareceived from the smartphone C2 to the application server 9B and thedatabase server 9C, and a data output function of transmitting datagenerated by the application server 9B and data extracted from thedatabased server 9C to the smartphone C2. In this embodiment, theinput/output server 9A is configured as a Web server. Note that theinput/output server 9A, the application server 9B and the databaseserver 9C may be a decentralized or virtualized computer system such asa cloud computer system, rather than being included in one integratedcomputer system.

A field management unit 91, an agricultural work management unit 92, adriver management unit 93, and a vehicle management unit 94 areconfigured by software in the application server 9B. In cooperation withthe database server 9C, the field management unit 91 manages fieldinformation, which is information relating to a field, such as the fieldnumber, field name, field address, field map position, field shape,field area, field crop type and the like, based on information inputfrom a farmhouse, an agricultural association or the like. Incooperation with the database server 9C, the agricultural workmanagement unit 92 manages agricultural work information, which isinformation relating to agricultural work for each field, such as riceplanting, weeding, spraying of agricultural chemicals, fertilizing,reaping and the like, which is sent mainly from an agricultural workvehicle such as a combine, or from the smartphone C2 of a worker usingthe agricultural work vehicle. In cooperation with the database server9C, the driver management unit 93 manages information relating to adriver of the combine 1 who is registered in the management center 9.Examples of this information include name, address, experience level andthe like. In cooperation with the database server 9C, the vehiclemanagement unit 94 manages information on a combine 1 that is registeredin the management center 9. Examples of this information include thetype, travel history, work history, malfunction history and the like ofthe combine 1.

In this embodiment, the database server 9C includes an agricultural workdatabase 95, a field map database 96, a work evaluation database 97, adriver database 98 and a vehicle database 99 as databases that relate inparticular to the present invention. The agricultural work database 95stores the above-described field information and agricultural workinformation. Note that the agricultural work information includes dataindicating the combine 1 (in the present embodiment, a registered workmode which is the set work mode for the registered combine 1). The fieldmap database 96 stores a map of the field linked to the field number,map position and the like, and can extract and output map dataassociated with the field and its periphery, using the field number andfield map position as search conditions. The work evaluation database 97causes the evaluation information sent from the combine 1 via thesmartphone C2 to be linked with the field information and stores thatinformation. The evaluation information is stored along with past datafor each field, and therefore it can also be used to perform successive(over time) evaluation of the same field. The driver database 98 storesvarious types of information relating to a registered driver, and thevehicle database 99 stores various types of information relating to aregistered combine 1.

Accordingly, the externally-generated work information sent from themanagement computer system C3 of the management center 9 also includespast ground work result data for a target ground work site, ground worktarget data determined by an external apparatus and the like.Furthermore, information such as the type of the ground work (tillingwork, agricultural crop harvesting work, rice planting work, etc.),properties of the ground work site (marshland, inclined ground, etc.),environment of the ground work site (windy, rainy, arid, etc.) can beincluded as ground work attribute information in theexternally-generated work information sent from the management computersystem C3 of the management center 9. Accordingly, based on the receivedground work attribute information, the display information managementmodule 5 can extract the information that is to be displayed on thevehicle-mounted display 62 b (first display data, third display data)and the information that is to be displayed on the display 64 of thesmartphone C2 (second display data, fourth display data) from theexternally-generated work information and the internally-generated workinformation.

Based on the signal reception strength between the combine 1 and thesmartphone C2, or position data from the GPS module 70 of the smartphoneC2 and position data of the combine 1, it is possible for the combine todetermine that the driver has moved away from the driving cabin 13, andfor example, is outside of the combine 1. If a car navigation system ismounted on the combine 1, the position of the combine 1 can be obtainedfrom the car navigation system, and it is also possible to use theposition data from the GPS module 70 of the smartphone C2 duringtraveling as the position of the combine 1. Accordingly, the displayinformation management module 5 can select information that is to bedisplayed on the display 64 of the smartphone C2 (second display data,fourth display data) based on the location of the smartphone C2. Inparticular, when it is determined that the driver is outside of thecombine 1, all of the information that is to be provided to the drivercan also be displayed on the display 64 of the smartphone C2.

Next, with reference to the flowcharts as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, theflow of data among the combine 1, the smartphone C2 and the managementcomputer system C3 will be described using a simple example.

First, a flow for control at the time of checking the field in whichwork is to be performed and the work content will be described withreference to FIG. 14.

When the combine 1 arrives at the vicinity of the field in which work isto be performed, a work checking event occurs in the work apparatus ECU4 based on the input of an operation by the worker, and the workchecking event is sent to the smartphone C2 (#01). After receiving thework checking event, the smartphone C2 reads out the positioning data(longitude, latitude), which indicates the current position, from theGPS module 70 (#02), incorporates it into the work checking event, andtransmits it to the management computer system C3 of the managementcenter 9 (#03). In the management computer system C3, in response to thereceived work checking event, the field management unit 91 extracts thefield map of the field corresponding to the positioning data from thefield map database 96 (#04) and extracts the work information for thatfield from the work database 95 (#05). The extracted field map and workinformation are sent as the externally-generated work information (#06).The externally-generated work information is transferred to the displayinformation management module 5 of the combine 1 via the smartphone C2(#07).

The display information management module 5 of the combine 1 performsdivision on the externally-generated work information that is received(#08). The field map (fourth display data) extracted from theexternally-generated work information is sent to the smartphone C2, andthe display information management module 8 of the smartphone C2 causesthe received field map to be displayed on the display 64 (#09). Thefield map displayed on the display 64 can be scaled up and down usingstandard functions of the smartphone C2, so that the driver can easilycheck the field in which work is to be performed (#10).

The display information management module 5 of the combine 1 furthermoreextracts the work information from the received externally-generatedwork information (#11) and causes the work information (third displaydata) to be displayed on the vehicle-mounted display 62 b (#12). Thedisplay screen of the vehicle-mounted display 62 b displays work contentsuch as rice harvesting work, cutting height and the like, and thereforethe driver can easily check the work content and set the cutting heightand the like using the display screen (#13).

Next, a flow for control when the work load exceeds a threshold will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 15. In this example, it is assumed thatan increase in the threshing load, acting as the work load, hasoccurred.

If an increase in the threshing load occurs during harvesting workperformed by the combine, a threshing load increase event occurs in thework apparatus ECU 4 (#21). Based on the occurrence of this threshingload increase event, the work information generation unit 41 generatesthreshing load information relating to the threshing load that hasoccurred (#22). For example, the threshing load information includeswarning data and threshing load detail data. The threshing load detaildata contains the threshing rotation speed, travel speed, a measure forreducing the threshing load and the like. The threshing load informationis provided to the display information management module 5 as theinternally-generated work information, and is divided into warningdisplay data (first display data) that is to be displayed on thevehicle-mounted display 62 b of the combine 1 and threshing load detaildata (second display data) that is to be sent to the smartphone C2(#23). Based on the warning display data, the vehicle-mounted display 62b of the combine 1 displays a warning indicating an increase in thethreshing load (#24). Also, based on the threshing load detail data, thedisplay 64 of the smartphone C2 uses a page-turning function of thesmartphone C2 to display the threshing rotation speed, travel speed, andmeasures for reducing the threshing load (#25). The driver can checkinformation relating to the increase in the threshing load that iscurrently occurring based on the details of the threshing load displayedon the display 64 of the smartphone C2 (#26) and can take theappropriate measures for reducing the load (#27).

As described above, with the present invention, display informationincluding information relating to ground work can be displayed bydividing display between the vehicle-mounted display 62 b arranged inthe driving cabin 13, and the display 64 of the smartphone C2, which canbe carried by and held in the hand of the driver, and an effectivedisplay for the driver is therefore realized.

The information displayed on the vehicle-mounted display 62 b and thedisplay 64 of the smartphone C2 was work information and partial travelinformation, but other types of information, such as road information,news information, entertainment information and the like may be dividedtherebetween and displayed. If multiple vehicle-mounted displays 62 bare included, display may be divided among the multiple vehicle-mounteddisplays 62 b according to the display content.

In the above-described embodiment, a smartphone was used as the mobilecommunication terminal, but another mobile communication terminal suchas a tablet-type PC, a laptop PC or a navigation device can be used.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The present invention can be applied not only to a harvester forharvesting crops such as rice, barley and corn, harvesting vegetablessuch as potatoes, carrots and radishes, harvesting fruit such as applesand mandarin oranges and the like, but also to an agricultural workvehicle used for various kind of agricultural work such as tractors,rice planters, fertilizer spreaders, agricultural chemical sprayers andgrass mowers, and further to a construction vehicle used for a civilengineering work such as front-loaders.

DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS/MARKS

-   -   1 Ground work vehicle (agricultural work vehicle, combine)    -   1 a Work unit    -   10A Travel operation device    -   10B Work operation device    -   23 GPS module    -   31 Travel information generation unit    -   32 Work information generation unit    -   33 Information management unit (data link unit)    -   34 Data input/output unit (Web browser)    -   35 Fuel efficiency information generation unit    -   4 Work apparatus ECU    -   41 Work information generation unit    -   60 a Data input unit    -   60 b Data output unit    -   5 Display information management module    -   51 First display data generation unit    -   52 Second display data generation unit    -   53 Third display data generation unit    -   54 Fourth display data generation unit    -   62 Vehicle-mounted display    -   64 Display of mobile communication device (mobile display)    -   8 Display information management module    -   81 First display data generation unit    -   82 Second display data generation unit    -   83 Third display data generation unit    -   84 Fourth display data generation unit    -   9 Management center    -   90 a Data input unit    -   90 b Data output unit    -   90 c Travel evaluation unit    -   90 d Data visualization unit    -   9 a Data input/output unit (Web server)    -   9 b Application execution module (application server)    -   9 c Database module (database server)    -   C1 First control unit    -   C2 Second control unit    -   C3 Management computer system

What is claimed is:
 1. A ground work vehicle configured to perform workusing a work apparatus while traveling, the ground work vehiclecomprising: a travel information generation unit configured to, overtime, generate travel information indicating a travel state; a workinformation generation unit configured to, over time, generate workinformation indicating a work state of the work apparatus; a travelevaluation unit configured to, based on the travel information and thework information, divide traveling of the ground work vehicle intonon-work traveling and actual work traveling; and a data visualizationunit configured to generate visual data, according to which the resultof the division performed by the travel evaluation unit is made visible.2. The ground work vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the travelinformation includes travel distance data and the work informationincludes driving state data indicating driving time and non-driving timeof the work apparatus, and based on the driving state data, the travelevaluation unit distinguishes between the non-work traveling and theactual work traveling and calculates a non-work travel distance and anactual work travel distance.
 3. The ground work vehicle according toclaim 1, further comprising: a fuel efficiency information generationunit configured to, over time, generate fuel efficiency informationindicating a fuel consumption amount; and a fuel consumption evaluationunit configured to calculate a fuel consumption amount for whenperforming work traveling and a fuel consumption amount for whenperforming non-work traveling by associating the travel information andthe work information with the fuel consumption information.
 4. Theground work vehicle according to claim 3, wherein the work informationincludes a work amount, and the ground work vehicle includes a fuelconsumption evaluation unit configured to calculate fuel consumption perunit work amount.
 5. The ground work vehicle according to claim 1,wherein the travel information includes one or both of an operation timeand the number of instances of operation of a travel operation device,the work information includes one or both of an operation time and thenumber of instances of operation of a work operation device, and theground work vehicle includes a device operation evaluation unitconfigured to calculate one or both of the operation times and thenumbers of instances of operation.
 6. The ground work vehicle accordingto claim 1, wherein the work apparatus is a grain stalk processingapparatus, and the work information includes a grain harvest amount. 7.The ground work vehicle according to claim 6, wherein the workinformation includes grain quality data.
 8. The ground work vehicleaccording to claim 1, further comprising a data link unit configured toassociate positioning data indicating a machine body position outputtedfrom a GPS module with the travel information and the work information.9. A ground work vehicle configured to perform work using a workapparatus while traveling, the ground work vehicle comprising: a GPSmodule configured to output positioning data indicating a machine bodyposition; a work information generation unit configured to, over time,generate work information indicating a work state of the work apparatus;a travel evaluation unit configured to, based on the positioning dataand the work information, divide the travel route of the ground workvehicle into a non-work travel route and an actual work travel route;and a data visualization unit configured to generate visual dataaccording to which the result of the division performed by the travelevaluation unit is made visible.
 10. The ground work vehicle accordingto claim 9, wherein the travel evaluation unit calculates a non-worktravel distance based on the non-work travel route and calculates anactual work travel distance based on the actual work travel route, andthe data visualization unit generates a diagram according to which aratio between the non-work travel distance and the actual work traveldistance is made visible.
 11. A ground work vehicle management systemcomposed of a ground work vehicle configured to perform work using awork apparatus while traveling, and a management server configured tomanage the ground work vehicle, wherein the ground work vehicleincludes: a travel information generation unit configured to, over time,generate travel information indicating a travel state; and a workinformation generation unit configured to, over time, generate workinformation indicating a work state for the work apparatus, and themanagement server includes: a data input unit configured to, via acommunication line, receive ground work vehicle information thatincludes the travel information and the work information; a travelevaluation unit configured to divide traveling of the ground workvehicle into non-work traveling and actual work traveling based on thetravel information and the work information; a data visualization unitconfigured to generate visual data according to which the result of thedivision performed by the travel evaluation unit is made visible; and adata output unit configured to transmit the visual data to a requestor.